Florida’s leading medical marijuana proponent will be in Leon County court Thursday to challenge a state ban on smoking the plant.

John Morgan bankrolled the 2016 medicinal marijuana ballot proposal and said the 71 percent of voters who supported the amendment expected smoking to be one of the ways to administer the plant’s medicinal agents.

“I’m getting ready to get on a conference call about this,” Morgan said Wednesday.

Morgan warned lawmakers last month if they did not remove the smoking prohibition from the bill they were considering he would return to Tallahassee and challenge the law in court. On Wednesday afternoon, he tweeted a gif of a wrestling announcer proclaiming "Let's get ready to rumble." His tweet was hashtagged with #NoSmokeIsAJoke."

It allows doctors to recommend full-strength THC marijuana to treat patients with 10 qualifying conditions. Floridians can “vape” the plant but smoking is prohibited. The bill sponsors defended the prohibition. They noted there aren't any scientific studies to show that smoking pot is more effective.

John Morgan is weighing a decision to run for governor in 2018. Thursday he spoke to the Capital Tiger Bay Club(Photo: James Call)

Marijuana advocates say the bill clearly intended patients to smoke if they wanted to. The amendment specifically allows smoking to be banned in public places – proponents say the clarification means it is permitted in private.

Morgan has enlisted former University of Florida Law School dean emeritus Jon Mills in his challenge.

According to the Department of Health, the state registry now has 16,614 patients. A recent state revenue impact study projects that by 2022 there will be 472,000 medical cannabis patients and $542 million in sales.